


paper-based puppy love

by Authumnder



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Fluff and Humor, M/M, or at least attempt at humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22327123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Authumnder/pseuds/Authumnder
Summary: The new intern isnotadorable.
Relationships: Adam Boqvist/Kirby Dach
Comments: 9
Kudos: 77





	paper-based puppy love

**Author's Note:**

> When your sister tell you stories about her office it is YOUR job to use those as a material for your next fiction and daydream about it for the next two days, okay? Them's the rules. I have nothing to say about this except I'm sorry if my characterization's terrible :( Adam looks very sweet I doubt he's as hateful as I made him out to be :( Sorry not sorry :( 
> 
> Unbeta'd because YOLO. Thank you so much for dropping by, hope you enjoy this!

The new intern is _not _adorable.

Adam isn’t talking out of his ass...or jealousy... here, it’s just the truth. He, as the _old _intern, has a right to comment about the new intern the same way the company’s employees do, and Adam’s practicing his right when he states that the new intern? Not as good (and cute) as everyone made him out to be.

Adam has been an intern at Moonstar Apparel Inc. for a month when the new intern arrived and literally swept everyone off their feet with his so-called charming smile and prince-like figure. It’d taken Adam exactly four days of sitting in his makeshift cubicle and doing useless rounds until his supervisor deemed him worthy enough to give him his first task. Which was making copies of export documents. Which Adam doesn’t even think deserve to be called ‘task’.

Not that he is complaining, mind you, because making copies of important documents is still better, _so much better_, than sneakily scrolling through his phone as Mr. Shaw not-so-politely ignores his existence. It’s definitely not much of an improvement, but yeah, beggars can’t be choosers, remember?

_At least _that’s what Adam used to cheer himself with whenever things at the office get too boring and monotone. _You’re still new and adapting and that’s why everyone doesn’t trust you to help do their job_, _things will get busier as days passed, blah-diddy-blah-blah. _It kind of worked for him, made him less anxious—that is, until Kirby Dach got introduced one morning and guess whom Mr. Saad immediately snatched for the apparently ‘vacant’ position at the Marketing Department?

Not Adam, clearly, considering he’s still making copies of Mr. Shaw’s disorganized documents.

Again, this isn’t Adam speaking out of jealousy. He has actual, literal proofs—plural, yes, because Adam isn’t the kind of person who half-ass something like _someone_ in the company here, and no, he isn’t pointing fingers, but he _knows _who he’s talking about—to back him up.

Ready? OK, let’s go.

***

That day when Kirby Dach first stepped into the office of Moonstar Apparel Inc., Mr. Shaw has the both of them sitting next to each other in the cramped room of the HR Department (or, as Mr. Shaw likes to call it, the Graveyard). Adam gets the gist, kind of, they’re there to get familiar to each other so that they can work together, and Kirby’s probably also there to be given brochures and company handbooks like Adam did in his first day.

Except Mr. Shaw doesn’t even bother to retrieve the papers, he just stares sort of boredly at Adam and gestures him towards Kirby.

Adam’s sure not getting what the fuck that means. He waits another second, but Mr. Shaw’s face is still impassive as ever and it’s getting unnerving. “Um, I’m sorry, what?” Adam asks finally.

“Kid, I explained the whole company and how it works and where the restrooms are to you like a month ago. Now’s your turn,” Mr. Shaw says, and, when Adam’s still looking at him with visible question marks all over his entire being, he continues. “C’mon, don’t be shy. I’ll just get back to my things and you can tell him stuff.”

Adam’s honestly at loss for words right now. He’d say he can’t believe Mr. Shaw is (illegally, he believes) delegating what is rightfully his job to an _intern _like him, but at the same time he’s not surprised at all (Adam’s actually shocked he didn’t see this coming beforehand, considering he’s spent a whole month in close proximity with the guy and a lot of times it was so boring that Adam’s resorted to studying him in order to not fall asleep in his desk).

Mr. Shaw’s back click-clacking on the computer when Adam succeeds in getting himself together. If you look closely, you will see that Mr. Shaw isn’t really working, he is just typing a bunch of shit on a clean Word sheet—again, not surprising.

Kirby Dach snickers. Fuck, Adam didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“You shouldn’t say that about our supervisor,” Kirby whispers. “He’s the one who’s to assess us,”

Like Adam didn’t already know that.

It’s probably from this moment that Adam starts hating the dude a little—not like, hatred _hatred_, more like petty disliking or something along that line. Something small, not enough to make maintaining his objectivity difficult.

In reality, Adam grits his teeth, swallows back the sarcasm, and smiles. “Okay, so, I’m sure you already knew about the company and the history and the products we sell here and blah-blah, you can easily read them in the website, so I’ll just show you where the rest—”

“Wait, products—” Kirby cuts him.

Adam begrudgingly stops. He hasn’t even started on his explanation yet, and Dach already has a question? What the hell. In reality, he puts the smile back and asks, “Yes?”

“Um,” Kirby begins, then pauses, hesitating.

“Out with it, c’mon.” Adam says. “I doubt we’re gonna get a lot of tasks today but I do want to get this talk done.”

Kirby grimaces. Adam absolutely _refuses _to feel bad for kind of snapping at him. “The products we sell here? What are those?” he asks, sheepishly based on his body language, also the grimace, because it’s still pasted on his face, clear as a day.

Adam is gobsmacked.

“You don’t know the things this company produces?” he asks in disbelief, because, what the fuck. Adam remembers getting bombarded with questions by the HR Manager when he applied for the internship, shaking in his seat as the crazy-eyed dude kept glaring at him whenever Adam stuttered his answers. It was all, ‘Why are you interested in the Moonstar Apparel Inc.? What do you know about the company? What is the vision and mission of this company? What will you bring to the table if we accepted? WHY DO YOU EXIST, ADAM? HOW SMART ARE YOU TO DARE APPLY HERE?’

Adam thought he’d bombed it when he was let out, but he got a call from Mr. Shaw the next day and that was it. He was in.

(12/10 not recommended, though, definitely.)

“Well...” Kirby says, scratching at his head. _He doesn’t know. He really doesn’t know_. Adam is utterly, completely speechless.

How did you get chosen, he wants to ask like, _really badly_, but that sounds mean and intruding in his head, and if it sounds mean and intruding in _Adam_’s head, then it’d be twice worse if spoken aloud.

“Women’s undergarments,” Adam finally concedes, but only after Kirby began to squirm under his scrutiny. “We sell bras, Kirby.”

See? How is this dude who doesn’t even know what the company he’s interning at produces could be more _competent _than _Adam_?

***

Adam really _loathes _to admit this, but Moonstar Apparel Inc. is kind of _cheap_ in this very inconveniencing way towards the interns. Instead of getting the same desktop as the ones used by literally any other person in the office, Adam is given an old computer with a thick monitor and pentium processors that took five whole minutes to switch on.

As if that’s not pain enough, the keyboard that comes with it is also hard as a rock to touch and you have to put like, maximum effort for the keys to work, which means Adam has to two-fingers type to avoid injuries (he won’t allow his pinkies to take this _abuse_), which Adam hates, so much, because what’s the point of being able to ten-finger type 75 words/minute with his eyes closed if he can’t even show it off to his supervisor? Huh? HUH?

As if that’s not pain _enough_—yes, Adam’s pain is neverending, don’t look so surprised—the pathetic excuse of a desktop ALSO suffers from blue screen disease, which, oh, it does it again, now.

“You didn’t save the document, did you,” Adam says, tiredly, doesn’t even expect Kirby to object. The dude totally didn’t, Adam knows it in his bones.

Fine, yeah, maybe Adam needs to stop watering his…petty disliking towards the guy and stomp on it instead. After all, Kirby Dach still comes over to Adam’s makeshift cubicle to help him with whatever frivolous tasks Mr. Shaw gave him that day even after being snatched away by Marketing.

Adam’s very grateful for him. Veeeery grateful. (Or not.)

“I didn’t know what I did!” Kirby squeaks, standing up from the (hard, backache-inducing) chair in a blurry motion. “I was just typing—”

“Dude, relax,” Adam intervenes, before Kirby can start yelling his innocence. He thumbs the power button and presses for a long time until the monstrosity dies a temporary death. “You did nothing wrong, it’s all Baz.”

“Baz?” Kirby repeats. “Who’s Baz?”

“Oh, sorry, haven’t I introduced you two yet?” Adam asks as he gives the power button another press. He steps back and gestures at the computer when it whirrs back to life almost reluctantly. “Here, meet Baztard, Baz for short, the sole source of my suffering. Baz, meet Kirby, the other intern.”

Kirby immediately bursts out laughing.

“You named the computer?” he asks in between fits.

“I named the computer.” Adam solemnly replies.

It takes two minutes for Kirby’s hysterics to subside. “Okay, sorry, okay,” he says, nodding to himself and not looking at Adam at all. Adam’s really tempted to make him lose it again, but the documents are waiting, still. “The hell was that, anyway?”

“You don’t know the blue screen of death,” Adam repeats slowly, again in disbelief. It seems like he’s _always _in disbelief in proximity to Kirby he can’t believe he’s still able to not _believe_. “BSoD? Like, probably the most common error in Windows PC?”

Kirby shakes his head.

“Dude,” Adam says. “_Dude_. My _grandma_ knows what BSoD is! My _old _grandma!”

“Well I don’t,” Kirby shoots back, folding his arms across his chest, then, “It’s not my fault my computer always works perfectly!”

Adam heaves out a sigh. “You’re unbelievable,” he says, but doesn’t proceed further, instead sitting back down on the chair and pulling up File Explorer.

“Shit, does that mean we have to start from scratch again?” Kirby asks, watching the screen over Adam’s shoulder. He sounds pained, which Adam totally relates.

Adam double-clicks on the Word document he was looking for and waits for it to open before smugly says, “Microsoft Word automatically saved a document you accidentally closed without saving,” he watches the confusion on Kirby’s face, “the key is to find where the file is and then you can easily restore it. Ta-da! We’re back on track. Say ‘thank you, Adam,’”

“Thank you, Adam.” Kirby parrots back, beaming.

“You’re welcome,” Adam says.

See? SEE? Like hell Adam’s getting compared to the guy who doesn’t even know what a blue screen is or how to restore unsaved Word document. He will resist!

***

Doing Starbucks run isn’t on Adam’s desk job, per se, but it is on Kirby’s, so naturally it becomes Adam’s too. Adam doesn’t hate it, not as much as he does looking for a specific document in the disorganized, unsystematic chaos that is the archive room, but he doesn’t _enjoy _it either, the way the entire people in the whole office acts like a goddamn animal fighting for a piece of meat when reciting their orders.

“I want a vanilla latte with soy milk, iced and sugar free—”

“—I want a triple, venti, half-sweet caramel macchiato—”

“—Remember, sugar free!”

“—Listen carefully and don’t mess it up, okay? I need a caramel macchiato, venti, skim, extra shot—”

“—And non-fat!”

“—extra-hot, extra-whip, and sugar free. Do not mess this up for me. I repeat, do not mess this up for me.”

Kirby looks visibly overwhelmed after, and that was only the Marketing Department. There’s still two more to go.

“Did you get all that?” Kirby asks, fiddling with the note in his hands. Adam can read the word ‘macchiato’ written twice and nothing else. Kirby Dach totally didn’t get all that.

“As it is, I did,” Adam replies, flaunting his own note. It’s messy as fuck and Adam fully doubts anyone else but him can understand it. Kirby seems to think so, too, based on his raised eyebrows. “I have a system, okay? Don’t judge.”

They decide to split to take the orders from other departments—Adam’s idea, of course, since he’s the one with an avalanche of export and import documents waiting to be copied, though he relents pretty quickly when Kirby begged to be given the Production Department (because the warehouse people are so jaded that their orders mostly consist of ‘as many espresso shots as the barista’s willing to give’ and none of that non-fat, sugar free shit).

It’s honest to God a small mercy that the director of the office only allows this free-Starbucks-coffee-for-all twice a month, because else Adam and Kirby would go bald from having to go through all the stress, although of course the fact that this is a shitty and cheap attempt by the director to prevent the crowd from demanding a working coffee machine doesn’t slip past Adam.

(Apparently the old one’s broken down like six months ago or so and it was ‘shitty as fuck, anyway,’ as eloquently told by Mr. Shaw. Adam has suspicions that it was Mr. Shaw who used it the last time.)

The Starbucks’ barista stares at him slack-jawed for a long second after Adam’s done reciting his own portion of long, complicated orders.

“Can I just see your notes?” she asks, and, when Adam hands them, “Shit, man, I don’t get paid enough for this,” she mutters, probably not for Adam’s ears to pick, and gives them back.

Kirby tries to hide his snicker behind his sleeve and does a terrible job at it. Adam elbows him on the side.

When it’s Kirby’s turn to order, he very visibly freezes. Adam can see the gears inside his head turning and immediately knows what’s happening.

“You forgot the Production people’s orders,” Adam says, matter-of-factly. “Their order last time was basically espresso, Kirby, literally _how _did you forget,”

“No, Connor said they wanted something different today and I… forgot what that is.” Kirby says, wide-eyed.

Adam’s this close to slamming his head on the counter. “You forgot literally the easiest order,” he echoes.

“Sorry.” Kirby says lowly. He sounds and looks like it, too. “Fuck, I’m really sorry,”

“Can you guys deal with it somewhere else? I need my caffeine,” the businessman with an impeccable suit behind them cuts in.

Adam doesn’t turn around and glare at him like he absolutely wants to, though, because he’s a not an overgrown child. Fuck that guy.

“Let’s just get them all vanilla lattes,” Adam says, turning back to the barista.

“You sure?” Kirby asks. “I mean, won’t they get mad if it’s the wrong drink?”

“It’s not like they _can _get mad at you,” Adam mutters, and he ends up being true, at the end, because of course he is.

Kirby is all apologetic smiles and gestures when he hands the Production people their takeaway coffee cups, and while Connor _does _frown and protest, “This isn’t our order,” the rest of them just accepts it willingly, all ‘it’s totally okay! We understand!’ and forgiving gestures.

They don’t say it aloud, but Adam _can _almost hear the ‘ah, aren’t you adorable!’ when they take an admiring look at Kirby Dach.

“I am truly sorry about this,” Kirby says again, as if he hasn’t had the hearts of the entire team—except maybe Connor—wrapped around his little fingers.

Monica, one of the employees, waves him off. “It’s fine! Don’t you worry your pretty little head about this!”

Adam hopes he doesn’t suffer any consequences from rolling his eyes too hard.

“How do you know they’re not going to get mad?” Kirby asks once they’re back at Adam’s crappy table. Apparently he isn’t needed at all by Marketing and has decided to follow Adam around. Adam fully intends to exploit the hell out of Kirby’s strength to help him do his photocopying job and probably make him kick the machine if it decides to act up again. It’s a win-win situation.

“Are you seriously asking,” Adam deadpans.

“Yes, Adam, I am seriously asking.” Kirby says.

The fact that Kirby isn’t even aware of the power he holds in his hands is almost frightening.

Adam sighs, no point in patronizing the guy any longer. “Dude, you could crash your car into the building and the entire floor would probably just be like, ‘it’s okay, Kirby! We’ve been needing renovations for a while, anyway! Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it!’” he says, mimicking Monica earlier and putting his own exaggeration into it a bit. Or a lot. Whichever.

“That’s not true,” Kirby disproves, frowning really hard.

“Did you even know that the minute you set your foot into the office everyone began whispering about how _adorable _you are?” Adam powers through. “I’m talking everyone, Kirby, _everyone_. Stepping into _any _department and I was immediately met with variations of ‘Oh, Adam, have you met the new intern? He’s adorable!’”

“Oh, sorry, that must’ve been annoying,” Kirby says quietly, and when Adam glances at him he finds that his cheeks are worrisomely bright red.

“Dude, literally no one ever would apologize for being ‘adorable,’” Adam retorts, complete with air quotes, laughing a bit. “It’s no matter.”

Kirby laughs as well, but it sounds...weird. Like he doesn’t really mean it, which makes Adam wonders if he’s accidentally offended him.

“Well, um, what do you think?” Kirby speaks again, thankfully before Adam can get too deep into his head.

“About?” Adam asks, now kind of distracted with the scraping sound coming from the photocopier. Shit, that sounds alarming.

“Uh, about me?”

Adam turns to him so quick that his neck painfully squeaks. He waits for a moment, expecting Kirby to crack up laughing and say some shit like, ‘oh my god that look on your face!’—except Kirby doesn’t. He resolutely stares at Adam.

What does Adam think about Kirby, in what aspect? Like, competency-wise? Appearance-wise? That’s what they were talking about, right? How everyone seems enamored with how adorable the dude is? The fuck can you say to that, anyway?

In the end, Adam settles on, “I won’t, like, disagree with everyone, dude. I have working eyes,”

Of course the photocopier chooses that exact moment to break down.

“Shit,” Adam says. “I am totally gonna be asked to pay damages for this crap, aren’t I.”

“It’s just paper jam, Adam,” Kirby says, already crouching down and cracking open the middle of the machine. Adam has no idea what the fuck he’s doing but he supports him because by the next second he’s pulling a crumpled paper from the machine and the thing whirrs back to life. “There, sometimes it happens with old photocopiers.”

“You know how to fix a fucking copy machine yet you’ve never experienced the blue screen, sure,”

Kirby only laughs.

And, alright, fine, maybe Kirby couldn’t remember literally the easiest coffee order they could ever get from the people in the company, but he also did a solid for Adam there, so like, he’s maybe forgiven. That doesn’t mean Adam will ever forget the fact that Kirby didn’t know what the Moonstar Apparel Inc. produces and sells and what BSoD is, though. Nope, holding on to that for life.

Also, shit, fine, Adam kind of sees what everyone’s talking about now as he watches Kirby throws his head back in laughter, slender neck and rosy cheeks and all that shit.

The new intern might be adorable, after all.

***

_Have you had breakfast yet? _Kirby texts once in the morning.

Adam’s too busy fighting his way past the morning rush to think further into it. They exchanged numbers that first day in the Graveyard (read: HR Office) for easier communication (not actually needed, considering they can see each other face-to-face every day like super easily), but this is the first time they’ve ever used it.

_Not yet I’m runnin late 2day, _Adam texts back.

There’s a nondescript paperbag and coffee cup waiting on his table when Adam finally manages to get in.

“Dach dropped them off for you,” Mr. Shaw says, seemingly off-handed, but when Adam turns to him he’s staring back meaningfully, which. Is Adam supposed to know what that means? Then he adds, “Isn’t he adorable, Adam?”

Oh, not him, too. Adam internally groans, can he go through a day in his long-suffering internship life without hearing the word _adorable _for once, please? Is that too much to ask?

_We buying each other breakfast now? _He texts Kirby.

The reply comes lightning fast. _If you want. We can do lunch too, or dinner. _

That sounds suspicious, because yes they’ve been pretty much buddy-buddy, and despite the initial...petty disliking...Adam finds that Kirby isn’t that bad of a company. Like, the dude’s nice and easy to talk to, and he voluntarily helps Adam gets through his daily meaningless tasks—provided he isn’t needed by Marketing to do some online promotion—the fact that he’s also easy on the eyes is an added benefit. But making plans to get food together? That’s brand new.

Anyway, the donuts are delicious so there’d be no complaining coming from Adam.

***

When shit finally goes down, obviously it has to happen in the dreadful, dingy archive room.

Adam has had...suspicions for a few weeks now, because he has a fully functional brain and he knows how to use it, thank you, and the signs aren’t even that subtle to begin with, though pretty much Adam’s ignored them since he doesn’t like to act based on suspicions alone, he needs actual proof, so.

Mr. Toews, the HR Manager, has dispatched him to find the last two month employees attendance file, which wouldn’t be a hardship if the archive is labeled or at least _structured_—if not alphabetically then based on date—but as it is, it’s not, the whole room a mess of unnamed file stacked beside each other without even a clear subject. So naturally that’s where Adam spends the entirety of his morning.

It doesn’t get interesting (of course it’s not interesting, what can possibly be interesting in an archive room straight out of a horror movie?) until Kirby comes in as well.

“Oh, thank god you’re here,” Adam greets him from where he’s sitting on the floor amidst the still yet unidentified folders. “I have so many complaints about the archiving in this company, Kirby, so _many_ you can’t even begin to imagine it.”

“Okay, this is actually...brutal.” Kirby comments as he takes in the view. “What’re you looking for?”

“The last two month attendance file,” Adam answers. “And no, before you ask, none of the shit here is labeled and they used the same folders for everything, so, also no, I don’t have any idea what it actually looks like. What are you doing here anyway? Get out while you can, dude, before the demon here devours you.”

Kirby laughs. “I have nothing to do anyway,” he says, sitting down as well. He’s going to get the seat of his khakis absolutely destroyed, considering the thick dust covering _every _surface here, but Adam’s not going to say anything.

It’s another fifteen minutes on the floor until the stacks around them prove to be useless.

“Let’s try another shelf,” Adam says as he gets up, dusting off his pants a bit. He’s about to walk off when Kirby suddenly corners him into reclining against the closest shelf, looming so tall before him that it’s impossible for Adam to notice anything else but him. “What—”

Their gazes meet for a split second before Kirby’s flicks down onto the lower part of Adam’s face and—Adam swears to god he sees this _coming, _has seen this coming _miles _ago, but it’s still a fucking surprise when Kirby leans down and captures his mouth in a kiss.

At first Adam thinks, _oh god we’re kissing_, and then, _oh god we’re actually kissing in the fucking archive room_, and finally he couldn’t think anymore, too immersed in the almost-frantic slides of their lips against each other.

When they break apart, Adam’s panting and, after a quick check, so is Kirby. It feels terribly hot in the room, probably because of how close they are, but Adam finds that he doesn’t mind it a bit.

“So, uh, it’s really like that,” Adam cracks the silence, smiling sheepishly. “I thought I was—”

“For a dude who’s so smart you’re kinda dumb at reading people, Adam,” Kirby says. He sounds breathy, his hair messy and his white shirt wrinkled from where Adam’s hand has strayed and kneaded it almost unconsciously earlier. He looks so fucking good under the dim light that Adam has trouble, _many troubles_, keeping himself from looking up and offering his mouth again.

Kirby readily meets him halfway.

***

Adam’s going to have to revise his opinion: the new intern is NOT adorable, he is _fucking hot_.

Mr. Shaw gives Adam his first important task a week later, stating that all this time he’s been tested for his patience. He also admits that no one actually uses Baztard (the ancient computer, remember?) and interns are supposed to be working with laptops anyway, which Adam is immediately given right after.

Adam’s really tempted to flip the guy off. He’s a blink away from doing so, actually, and were Kirby not there holding him back, Adam _absolutely _would have. Instead the only thing he can respond to that is by carefully muttering, “Fucking asshole,” under his breath—so Mr. Shaw won’t hear it, because Adam would like to keep his internship, please—which is nowhere close satisfactory, but Kirby buys him donuts with various topping again, so all’s good at the end.

***

**Kirby [5:00]  
**Dinner tonight?

**Adam [5:02]  
**Oooh we going somewhere fancy?

**Kirby [5:03]  
**I was thinking Domino’s actually.

**Adam [5:03]  
**:(  
That’s not romantic at all Dach

**Kirby [5:05]  
**Bro we work in the same company you know we’re broke  
But also. My first employee salary? Gonna spoil u baby

**Adam [5:07]**  
Lmaoooo   
But yea send me details I’ll be there

**Author's Note:**

> Omg congratulations you reached the end! Anyway I was thinking of turning this into a series featuring different Blackhawks pairings, feel free to tell me your thoughts! I have a [Tumblr](http://sideswiped.tumblr.com) btw if you wanna talk to me :3
> 
> Lastly, can I please get uh,,,,,, feedbacks


End file.
